Rug display rack



March 17, 1942. A, w. FOSTER RUG DISPLAY RACK Filed June 26, 1940 3noentor Jazz/W 8g J 3. 2 mm Patented Mar. 17, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUG DISPLAY RACK Asa W. Foster, Goreville, Ill. Application June 26, 1940, Serial No. 342,578

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in display racks, its particular purpose being to support rolled rugs in a position wherein they can easily be displayed to the prospective purchaser. A further characterization of the invention is that the rack is intended for use in conjunction with what is known as hard faced rugs. These comprise linoleum, felt base and similar rugs with respect to which the practice is to maintain a roll form, access to the border and center pattern being had by removing a strip of the covering paper at the approximate eye level so that the rugs can be kept rolled while stored in the display position at the same time avoiding sacrificing the ability to reveal the specific design.

' weight of the rugs.

With this premise in mind the objects of the invention are as follows:

First, to provide a rack for the display of all hard faced rugs, such as of felt base, linoleum and the like, as well as any other articles offered for sale in a substantially similar roll, package or carton form. 7

Second, to provide a rack or holder which keeps the rugs permanently in place, thus greatly improving the appearance of the rug department of a store.

Third, to provide a rack which permits the rug to be turned or revolved in either direction, thus allowing the border and pattern to be shown to the customer without undue effort.

ble of transportation or relocation in the building with a minimum of inconvenience.

Fifth, to make compensation for uneven rug ends so that a rug with an uneven end can be turned in its position in the rack, as freely as though the rug and were perfectly square with the body thereof.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the improved rug display rack.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the rack.

Figure 4 is a fractional perspective view of a portion of the head of the rack.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view particularly illustrating the swash plate action of the turntable.

In carrying out the invention provision is made of a frame, generally designated I, which comprises a pair of end standards 2 which rise vertically from a base 3. Said standards are surmounted by a head 4, and it is the purpose of the rack to support one or more rug rolls 5 in an erect position between the base 3 and head 4.

In order that the rugs may stay in position and to minimize the chance of their toppling over 80 Fourth, to provide a portable rug rack, capa- Each base plate 1 extends longitudinally of the frame I. The base plates are afiixed to the ends of the members 6, 8, and said members are made of suflicient length to locate the base plates 1 sufliciently far in advance of the head 4 to insure supporting the rug rolls at the pitch stated, in other words, to support them in lean= ing positions.

The actual support of the rolls is provided by a series of turn-plates 9 which are distributed longitudinally of the respective base plate 1. At this point it is desired to state that the type of rack I herein disclosed is of the self-sustaining kind. That is to say, the rack can be stood out in the middle of the floor or near the wall, and from the standpoint of desiring to display as many rug rolls as possible, the various elements which enter into the support of the rolls are duplicated as suggested in Figs. 2 and 3. But it is conceivable that the rack may be built either into or against a wall, in which case only a single row of rolls will be supported in the display position.

Each turn-plate 9 has an oversized recess I0 on the nether side (Fig. 5.). This recess may either be cylindrical or of the cone shape shown. A row of pins l l is affixed to the base plate 1 in upwardly projecting relationship, the turnplates 9 being loosely emplaced upon the pins by merely setting the upper ends of the latter in the plate recesses. The use of the oversize recesses in each plate allows the latter to selfadapt itself to an uneven rug roll end.

Attention is directed to Fig. 5 in this respect.

' The rug 5 is to be regarded as having been hanthe axis of theroll. is merely stood upon the plate 9.

retaining means are not required because the rug roll is heavy enough to stay in place. But it is readily conceivable that if some sort of retaining means is found desirable, it can be added to the plate 9 without invention. Now when the uneven end I2 is stood upon the plate 9 the latter will immediately adjust itself at the pitch shown to the pin II, and when the rug roll 5 is ultimately turned for display purposes the plate 9 will correspondingly turn upon the pin II with a swash plate action. The plate 9 will remain adapted to the uneven rug roll end and this feature is regarded as of considerable importance because it accommodates rug rolls of any of the types normally encountered in a store, whether square across the ends or distorted on a bias.

The head 4 consists of head plates l3, which are affixed to the opposite sides of the standards 2 (Fig. 2). It may be stated in passing that these standards are braced by crossed members l4 and are further supported by angled braces 15 which arise from the base and are capped by bridge members it. it is seen that the head plates l3 terminate at ends I? which desirably are shaped to afford a pleasing appearance. Said ends' actually are nothing more than the end ones of a series of cross arms it. The cross arms, as their name implies, are located crosswise of the head plates l3. They are vertically centered between pairs of turn-plates 9 as is readly seen by consulting the broken line If).

The supporting turn-plates thus are centered between the cross arms, and since successive rug rolls are stood upon theplates 9, it follows that the cross arms constitute dividers between the rug rolls. Since the arms I3 project out from the head plates 53 they also form. talls for the upper ends of the rolls, it being clear from the foregoing description that in emplacing a rug roll the bottom end is stood upon the selected turn-plate 9 while the top end is leaned over into a position of emplacement in the matching stall.

It is desirable to centralize each of the rugs in its respective stall. This is accomplished by use of a 'V-device 26. Said device comprises a plate 2| which is serrated along its edges. serrations are in the form of V-notches or V-recesses 22. The low parts of these recesses are vertically centered upon the supporting plates 9, as is seen by consulting the broken line 23, so that as stated before, when a roll is stood upon a chosen plate and rested against the head l, it automatically centers itself.

The advantages of this arrangement are that both large and small rugs (Fig. 1) will be accurately centered, thereby keeping the rug rolls in parallelism. Distortion of material of the rugs is thus avoided and a desirable uniform appearance is preserved. As an added precaution for the retention of the rug rolls, tie members 24 span the space between the ends I1 and the cross arms is. These tie members may consist of chains or cables and they are afiixed in any desired way, for example, by means of upstanding studs 25.

I claim:

1. A rack comprising a frame having a base and a head, at least one rotatable turn-plate mounted on the base in a position in horizontal advance of the head thereby to support a rolled rug upon said plate in a leaning position against said head, and means embodied in said base and turn-plate providing for self-adaptation of the turn-plate to an unsymmetrical rug roll end.

2. A rack comprising a frame having a base and a head, at least one rotatable turn-plate located on the base in horizontal advance of the head thereby to support a rolled rug upon said plate in a leaning position and against said head, and a swivel mount between the base and turn-plate providing for self-adaptation of the turn-plate to an unsymmetrical rug roll end both in the static support of the rug and in the rotation thereof.

3. A rack comprising a frame having a base Returning to the head 4- and a head, revoluble supporting means distributed along the base in a position of horizontal advance from. the head thereby to support each one of a plurality of rolled rugs rested upon the respective revoluble supporting means in a leaning position against said head, and means embodied in the head to centralize each of the rug rolls in respect to the supporting means thereby to keep all of the rolls parallel.

4. A rack comprising a frame having a base and a head, revoluble supporting means distributed. along the base in a position of horizontal advance from the head thereby to support each one of a plurality of rolled rugs rested upon the respective revoluble supporting means in a leaning position against said head, and means embodied in said head defining a series of stalls for the upper ends of the rug rolls.

5. A rack comprising a frame having a base and a head, revoluble supporting means distributed along the base in a position of horizontal advance from the head thereby to support each one of a plurality of rolled rugs rested upon the respective revoluble supporting means in a leaning position against said head, means embodied in said head defining a series of stalls for the upper ends of the rug rolls, and means in each stall for centralizing the respective rug rolls in reference to the supporting means thus to line up all of the rolls in parallelism to each other.

6. A rack comprising a frame having a base and a head, revoluble individual supporting means distributed along the base, commonly in w a position of horizontal advance from thehead thereby to support each one of a plurality of rolled rugs rested upon the respective revoluble supporting means in a leaning position against said head, divider means mounted on the head and directed crosswise of the head in positions centered between the individual supporting means thus to define stalls for the upper ends of the rug rolls, and a V-device mounted on the frame and correlated with said divider means,

M said V-device defining. a V-recess centrally of 45.

each stall thereby to centralize the upper ends of the rolls with the individual supporting means and so keep the rolls parallel to each other.

7. A. rack' comprising a frame having a base and. a head, individual rotatable supporting means distributed along the base, means providing for a. swash plate action of said supporting means thereby to cause self-adaptation to an unsymmetrical rug roll stood thereupon, crosslar-ms extending out from the head and being vertically centered between the supporting means to define stalls for the upper ends of the rug rolls, and a serrated plate correlated with said cross arms and carried by the head, said plate having V-notches centered between the arms hence centered upon the rotatable supporting means thereby tokeep. the rug rolls parallel to each other..

8. A rack comprising. a frame having abase and a headfor the upright support of a rolled rug,

a pin projecting from the base, and a pad upon which the bottom end of the rug rod is stood,

sa'id pad. having a recess oversized with respect to and occupied by the pin end for the performance of a swash plate action in. response to turning a rug with an uneven end.

ASA W. FOSTER. 

